Domestic Workers

There are 53 to 100 million domestic workers. The vast majority are women, and many are migrants and children. They cook, clean and provide care for people in their homes.

For decades domestic work was systematically excluded from labour legislation, since it was not recognised as work. As a result, these workers face multiple forms of exploitation including low pay or non-payment of wages, extreme working hours, abuse and even sexual violence and torture. Millions are enslaved in forced and child labour.

With the historic adoption of ILO Convention 189 and Recommendation 201 on 16 June 2011, domestic workers saw for the first time in history their work recognised as work.

Countries that have ratified C189

Countries that have adopted labour reforms and policies since the adoption of C189

With six countries having ratified the ILO Convention No 189 on domestic workers in 2012, the ITUC’s 12 by 12 campaign is well on track. In addition to Uruguay, Philippines, Mauritius, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Paraguay, a number of other countries worldwide have made commitments to improve the working and living conditions of domestic workers.

The defection of Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab to the opposition has severely weakened President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on political power, but the armed conflict raging across the country shows no signs of abating. Hijab, who had served as Prime Minister for just two months, left Syria for Jordan, describing Assad’s regime as “killing and terrorist”.

The ITUC is releasing today a report prepared for the World Trade Organisation’s trade policy review of Singapore that finds certain restrictions on the right to organise and a migration system that makes foreign workers vulnerable to abuses by employers.